Christmas Train
by AgentOfAngst
Summary: Tulip encounters a Christmas themed car and considers how Christmas would have been different this year. Day seven of 12 days of Christmas!


**I can't believe that this is my first Infinity Train fanfic, and I can't believe we're getting more Infinity Train content soon. Soon! (January 6th)**

**This story is named after an excellent book by David Baldacci called Christmas Train. My dad listens to the audiobook every year and swears by it, so maybe check it out if you like gorgeous, intricate romance** **stories that also happen to be set at Christmastime. **

**Enjoy!**

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"Whoa, this place is so Christmas-y," Tulip said, looking around. The car was full of decorated Christmas trees, a roaring fireplace, gift-wrapped presents, and inflatable lawn decorations, including a leering Santa Claus.

"What's Christmas?" Glad-One asked, looking around excitedly.

"Too many colors," Sad-One bemoaned.

"Christmas is this celebration where people act all nice to each other and it snows and everyone gives each other presents. It's a really nice time. Or, it's supposed to be. I guess things are different now. Maybe it's for the best that I'm spending Christmas with you guys." Tulip sighed and slumped next to a decorated fireplace, a roaring fire welcoming her. She gave Atticus a head scratch and closed her eyes, remembering.

"Sounds corporate," Sad-One mentioned.

"I suppose it is," Tulip agreed, "there are a lot of feel-good commercials trying to trick you into buying soup and toys and stuff."

"I like stuff!" Glad-One informed.

"Me too," Tulip agreed, thinking about how Oshkosh and Mikayla and what she was going to do for Christmas had been some of the only things that had mattered before she had gotten trapped on the train. Now getting off this train was the only thing she wanted.

"You miss your family?" Atticus guessed.

"Yes, no, I don't know! Christmas kind of stresses me out this year. I'm not even going to get all of my family. I'll get my mom or I'll get my dad and I don't want one or the other. I want both. So yeah I want to be home and I miss them but I don't really want to spend Christmas with them, you know? It would just be too weird." Tulip had gotten up and started to pace, Atticus waiting for her to slow down, and One-One rolling back and forth with her as she moved.

"That is difficult," Atticus agreed.

"Like I said, this might be better. Just you guys and a roaring fireplace and- Oh." She walked over to the fireplace, "this stocking has my name on it." She stuck her hand in the stocking and dug through it.

"Yes! Food!" She cheered, taking a bite out of an onion and not questioning why, once again, the train proved to know her better than she knew herself.

"Did you just eat my mum?" Glad-One asked.

"Makes sense," Sad-One muttered.

"No, this is an onion. This is food, not your mother. Don't worry, One-One, we'll find your mom eventually."

"And then I'll give her stuff!" Glad-One cheered.

"In the spirit of commercialism," Sad-One agreed.

"Is there a sock for anyone else?" Atticus asked, looking interested now that he knew the chimney socks had food in them.

"This one has your name on it, Atticus. Uh, there's no sock for you, One-One."

"That's okay, I probably don't deserve to be jolly," Sad-One said as Atticus dug out a treat.

"Sorry One-One, the train just must not know about you."

"Miss Tulip! There's something else in your sock!" One-One announced, crawling out of the stocking pushing a piece of paper. Tulip reached down and picked it up, before feeling like she was going to cry. It was a Christmas card from a few years ago of her mom and dad and her. Her whole family, together. She looked away and swiped at her eyes, punching the inflatable Santa, walking to the Christmas tree and grabbing a candy cane off of it to distract her.

"We should keep going. This is a little too nostalgic. Christmas is a waste of time."

"It's not a waste of time," Atticus said, looking at the picture that fluttered to the ground, "you had a lot of happy memories because of Christmas."

"But things are different now."

"That's not a bad thing," Atticus said.

"Nothing stays the same forever," Sad-One reminded.

"I'm just not ready for Christmas to change! I don't want to get half of my family for Christmas. I shouldn't have to choose. It's not like my Christmas wish was going to be that my parents got back together. They weren't happy. I don't want them to be unhappy. I just want to be happy. And maybe that means skipping Christmas or whatever."

"Is that what you want to do?" Glad-One asked curiously.

"I don't know!" Tulip broke the candy cane in half, then tossing it in her backpack, picking up the photo with a sigh.

"I don't know who I would have spent Christmas with... But I know they both miss me. Christmas isn't what matters right now. We need to get off this train." She pushed past a few inflatable reindeer, Atticus and One-One followed her. As they reached the door, Tulip glanced down at the Christmas card once more, seemingly debating what to do with it. Before opening the door she let the picture fall to the ground in a pile of discarded gift wrapping and then continued forward.

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**Until Christmas, I'll be releasing a story every day that has a Christmas-y theme.** **We're more than halfway through! **

**Today ****I finally wrote a story for Infinity Train, tomorrow I'm excited to re-visit a five-year-old OC of mine in Rise of the Guardians, after that will be Gravity Falls, Dear Evan Hansen, Percy Jackson, and finally, Teen Titans. **


End file.
